HD 


UC-NRLF 

$B    T4    351 


1 

\ 

1               BUREAU  OF  APPLIED  ECONOMICS,  INC. 

1                                                            WASHINGTON 

CHANGES  IN  COST  OF  LIVING 

AND  PRICES 

1914  to   1920 

Bulletin  Number  6 

WASHINGTON 
1920. 


COPYRIGHT,  1920 

BY 

BUREAU  OF  APPLIED  ECONOMICS,  INC. 

WASHINGTON 

HUGH  S.  HANNA,  Director 
PRICE  $1.00 


r^l   ' 


BUREAU  OF  APPLIED  ECONOMICS,  INC. 

WASHINGTON 


CHANGES  IN  COST  OF  LIVING 
AND  PRICES 


1914  to   1920 


a                1  • 

••  >  '    ,'  >  ' 

» 

»  J 
>  » » 

yj 

» 

} 

WASHINGTON 

1920 

PREFACE. 

This  bulletin  is  a  compilation  of  the  existing  authoritative  data 
on  changes  in  cost  of  living  since  the  beginning  of  the  European  War 
in  July  1914.  Inasmuch  as  these  data  are  at  present  scattered 
through  a  large  number  of  publications  it  is  believed  the  assembling 
of  them  under  a  single  cover,  in  summarized  form,  will  be  of  service 
at  the  present  time  when  there  is  so  much  demand  for  information 
on  this  subject. 


Bureau  of  Applied  Economics, 
Bulletin  Number  6. 


ADDENDUM,  JUNE  20,  1920. 

Since  this  bulletin  was  printed  index  numbers  of  cost  of 
living  and  prices  for  a  month  later  than  those  given  in  the 
bulletin  have  become  available  for  most  of  the  sources  listed. 
These  later  figures  are  shown  below,  together  with  the  com- 
parable data  for  the  preceding  monJ;h  or  two  months,  in  order 
to  show  clearly  the  recent  changes.  All  figures  are  converted 
to  the  same  base  (July,  1914=100)  in  order  to  make  them  com- 
parable with  those  printed  in  the  bulletin. 

Index  Numbers  of  Cost  of  Living  and  Wholesale  and  Retail 

Prices,  April,  May  and  .June,  1920. 

1914=100. 

1920 

April    May  June 

1.  General  Cost  of  Living: 

(a)  National  Industrial  (Conference  Board — 

Food    100  111 

Shelter    50  51 

Clotliing   188  187 

Fuel  Heat  and  Light 51  55 

Sundries    83  83 

Total,   weighted 96.6     101.62 

(b)  Massachusetts  Commission  on  the  Neces- 

saries of  Life — 

Food  91.9  101.3 

Shelter    29.3  30.3 

Clothing    200.4  197.0 

Fuel  and  Light 75.5  75.9 

Sundries 83.0  83.0 

Total,  weighted 92.3       96.2 

2.  Retail  Price  of  Food: 

U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics 211        217 

3.  Wholesale  Prices: 

(n)    U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics — 

Farm  Products   246  244 

Food,  etc  270  287 

Cloths  and  Clothing 353  347 

Fuel  and  Lighting 213  235 

Metals  and  Metal  Products 195  193 

Lumber  and  Building  Materials 341  341 

Drugs  and  Chemicals 212  215 

Housef urnishing  Goods 331  ^9 

Miscellaneous    238  246 

All  Commodities  265  £12. 

(b)    Bradstreet— 

All  Commodities 225  225      21b 

All  Commodities  213       218      217 

'^^f^'X 225        229     .235 

1  Week  ended  June  12,  1920. 

2  Preliminary  figure. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/costlivingchangelOOburerich 


i — 

i 

i        « 

' 

f — ?~4   ?    ?    ?    ?    ^    r  ?    §    ? 

J„n 



, 

— 

H» 

"•o 

— 



V      ■ 

1 

..... 

.___. 



1 

> 

\  ^ 



h^ 

i 





' 

[_ 

^^ 

,^ 

>, 

s. 

tn         « 

i 

1     1 
S     g 

I  1 

»  i  i 

-  ri  1 

a   1    3    3 

,  i '  * 

«y ! 

5°i   i 

lift 

^»  ^ 

N> 

..X 

L_6^ 

^ — ] 

\^ 

"^ 

N 

\  N 

P3 

Q 

1 \ 

^^^^^ 

■v 

NyJ 

\ 

-38 

2 

1 1 -1 

joe- 

y 

v\^^ 

\ 

-l^ 

* 

1 

f"* 

•"^ 

\      > 

'  ^J 

s 

-, 

\. 

"S8 

1 

^ 

^  ^H 

1         !          1 

N 

• 

^    \ 

Tir 

W 

1 

\ 

'^Ar 

\i^ 

> 

^N 

^  ^  i 

r 

1 

<" — T 

r    \4 

1 

y 

/ 

L 

V 

] 

\ 

s 

> 

\      ^ 

\ 

\,       1 

\     \ 

... 

/ 

\ 

\     \ 

jcn. 

< 

V^ 

h   \    \ 

Jbd 

K 

T    1 

r^v  \  \  i 

1 

1 

lW 

j 

!.! 

v\  \ 

j 

1 

\ 

\  \ 

H 

si 

i 

t 

1 

X 

V 

i' 

r 

> 

i;\ 

j/. 

1 

r"'      i'^ 

!•'"' 

i . 

-y-  — 1 

^                \ 

i 

^-             \ 

, 

1 

\              \ 

V 

C 

1 

/  ' 

N^ 

OG 

1 

/ 

\ 

A 

/ 

w 

i- 

j 

' 

;^h 

N\ 

1  : 

\ 

1 

i 

1 

\ 

\N 

! 

: 

: 

t 

s 

^       1 

IVy 

r. 

^  ^ 

"-.. 

\  \ 

i; 

ilA 

. 

., ,  .,_ 

...   ,. 

, 

^ 

h- 1 H 

-- 

\\ 

jWU 



1 



1 — 

^-r 

"^.  \  \ 

1 IFK 

j. 

^M\ 

i         i^ 

' 

.1  ^ 

I  K\    '        I    1- 

;  '["^""Zj 

1 

1  /f  ^ 

^  ^ 

'^^J  \\ 

1 

^ 

j         i 

. 

1 
e  B 

►^ 

^^ 

—  3«l 

CO 

2  S  5  ^  =-^ 

i    " 

" 



1 

1 



^ 

^ 

. 

' 

^ 

-i 

1 — 

\ 

L;; 

\ 

l! 

\ 

vV\ 

m 

N 

\\\ 

ii_ 

\ 

\Y 

It« 

N    \\ 

fe 

"^  I 

1 

^l 

lor 

'    nN 

l-r 

V 

m 

i)| 

roi 

s 

1 

r ^^r 

1             1 

1       ! 

i — 

>  'ir 

1 

\l| 

1  In 

t-7 

! 

•Vj 

lOfT 

1 

. 

1 .j , 

/M 

Js" 

1 — 1 — r— 

, [ . 

L 

' — r  1 

— ^^^ 

-.ADC 

1    ^     i     ^     §     a     ? 

.        ,    .J 

i 

s    k    ' 

2         S 

■•..        —cL. 

CHANGES   IN  COST   OF  LIVINC'  'aND 
PRICES,  1914  to  1920 

CHAPTER    I. 

Increase  in  the  General  Cost  of  Living  July,  1914,  to  May,  1920. 

Recent  studies  of  cost  of  living  and  prices  indicate  that  the  in- 
crease in  the  general  cost  of  living  between  July,  1914,  and  May, 
1920,  was  approximately  110  per  cent  for  the  larger  cities  of  the 
country  and  approximately  100  per  cent  for  the  country  as  a  whole. 

The  periodic  changes,  for  as  short  intervals  as  are  available,  are 
shown  in  the  following  table,  which  summarizes  reports  of  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  and  the  National  Indus- 
trial Conference  Board,  supplemented  by  corresponding  data  for 
Massachusetts  as  compiled  by  the  Massachusetts  Commission  on  the 
Necessaries  of  Life. 


PER  CENT  INCREASE  IN  COST  OF  LIVING  SINCE  JULY,  1914. 

Mass.  Commission 

U.  S.  Bureau  of 

National  Industrial 

on  the  Necessaries 

Labor  Statistics. 

Conference  Board. 

of  Life. 

18 

Country 

Industrial 

as  a 

Country  as  a  Whole. 

Massachusetts  Only. 

Centers. 

whole. 

1914 — December  .... 

2 

2 

.6 

1915— June-July    .... 

2 

2 

.5 

dec.  .4 

December  .... 

3 

3 

1.4 

1916— June-July  . 

9 

9 

8.7 

7.6 

December  . 

17 

17 

15.0 

1917— June-July  . 

30 

29 

31.3 

26.6 

December  . 

44 

41 

36.7 

1918— June-July  . 

... 

60 

56 

52.2 

49.3 

November  . 

... 

. 

65.0 

61.6 

December  . 

76 

72 

62.7 

1919— March  .... 

60.5 

61.3 

Jmie 

80 

75 

66.8 

July 

.. 

72.2 

68!o 

November  .  . 

82.2 

80.7 

December   .. 

loi 

95(1) 

80.9 

1920— January    .    . 

90.2 

88.1 

February  .  . 

93.5 

86.9 

March  .... 

94.8 

89.4 

Apra  

96.6 

92.3 

May   

nii^) 

ibm 

(^)Esthnates;  increase  between  December,  1919,  and  May,  1920,  being  estimated 
at  5  per  cent  from  price  increases  shown  in  later  sections. 

5 


Sources  op  the  Table. 

The  figures  for  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  up 
to  June,  1919,  are  from  the  Labor  Review  for  October,  1919.  For 
December,  1919,  the  figures  are  based  on  press  statements  issued  by 
the  Bureau. 

The  figures  for  the  National  Industrial  Conference  Board  are 
from  the  Board's  publications,  supplemented  by  press  statements 
for  February,  March  and  April  of  this  year. 

The  figures  for  the  Massachusetts  Commission  on  the  Necessaries 
of  Life  are  from  the  recent  report  of  that  Commission,  supplemented 
by  press  statements  for  March  and  April,  1920.  The  index  numbers 
as  issued  by  this  Commission  are  all  based  on  the  jesiT  1913,  equal- 
ing 100.  In  order  to  make  these  figures  comparable  with  those  of 
the  other  two  studies,  the  base  has  been  changed  to  July,  1914,  by 
dividing  by  the  index  number  for  that  month. 

Similarity  op  Results. 

The  similarity  in  the  results  of  these  studies  is  apparent,  and  the 
similarity  becomes  even  more  striking  when  the  methods  and  scope 
of  the  studies  are  analyzed.  Thus,  while  the  United  States  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics'  investigations  are  the  most  thorough  and,  as  a 
result,  probably  the  most  accurate,  they  have  covered  the  whole 
period  since  1914  only  for  certain  large  cities  which  during  the  war 
were  shipbuilding  centers.  As  these  cities  suffered  from  a  very 
heavy  influx  of  population,  with  consequent  congestion,  price  ad- 
vances there  were  somewhat  greater  than  in  most  other  communities. 
In  the  October,  1919,  number  of  the  Labor  Review,  the  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics  estimated  that  during  the  war  the  cost  of  living 
increased  12  per  cent  less  rapidly  in  other  communities,  and  6  per 
cent  less  rapidly  in  the  country  as  a  whole,  than  it  did  in  the  ship- 
building centers.  If  these  relationships  still  hold,  as  there  is  reason 
to  believe  they  do,  the  figure  of  101  per  cent  for  December,  1919, 
would  be  reduced  to  95  per  cent  as  a  fair  average  for  the  country  as  a 
whole. 

Increases  by  Principal  Commodity  Groups. 

The  increases  in  Jiving  costs  have  been  by  no  means  uniform  for 
the  various  commodity  groups.  The  following  tables  show  the  esti- 
mates of  increases  by  commodity  groups  as  compiled  from  reports 
of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  the  National  Indus- 
trial Conference  Board  and  the  Massachusetts  Commission  on  the 


Necessaries  of  Life.  The  tables,  it  will  be  noted,  cover  slightly  dif- 
ferent periods,  and  the  commodity  groups  are  not  identical,  but  they 
constitute  the  most  complete  and  most  recent  studies  of  the  subject. 

INCREASED  COST  OF  LIVING  BY  COMMODITY  GROUPS. 

1.    U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  1914  to  1919. 
For  18  Industrial  Centers. 


Items. 


Per  cent  increase 

Dec,  1914,  to 

Dec,  1919. 


Food    

Clothing    

Housing 

Fuel  and  light 

Furniture  and  furnishings \ 

Miscellaneous    I 

Total,  weighted  according  to  importance  of  each  item  in  the| 
family   budget | 


87.8 
178.8 

28,5 

57.7 
166.9 

86.3 

97.1 


2.    National  Industrial  Conference  Board,  1914  to  1920. 


Items. 


I  Per  cent  increase 
I     July,  1914,  to 
AprU,  1920. 


Food i  100. 

Shelter |  50. 

Clothing I  188. 

Fuel,  heat  and  light |  51. 

Sundries I  83. 

Total,  weighted  according  to  importance  of  each  item  in  thel 

family  budget I  96.6 


Massachusetts  Commission  on  the  Necessaries  of  Life,  1913  to  1920, 
for  the  State  of  Massachusetts. 


Items. 


Food 

Shelter 

Clothing 

Fuel  and  light 

Sundries I 

Total,  weighted  according  to  importance  of  each  item  in  the] 
family   budget 


Per  cent  Increase 
I      1913,  to  April, 
1920. 


98.2 
33.8 
205.5 
70.8 
83.0 


96.3 


Changes  in  Cost  op  Living  by  Cities. 

The  preceding  sections  have  been  concerned  primarily  with  the 
ascertaining  of  average  increases  in  the  cost  of  living  for  the  coun- 
try as  a  whole.  This  has  meant  the  averaging  of  conditions  in  a  large 
number  of  communities.  While  increases  in  the  cost  of  living  oc- 
curred during  the  past  few  years  in  every  community  of  which 
there  is  record,  the  rate  of  increase  was  not  everywhere  the  same. 
In  general,  the  increases  were  greater  in  the  East  than  in  the  West, 
and  greater  in  the  centers  where  industrial  activity  was  most  stimu- 
lated by  the  war.  On  the  other  hand,  the  greatest  price  increases 
have  not  always  been  in  the  very  largest  cities.  These  variations 
are  well  brought  out  in  the  cost  of  living  surveys  made  by  the  United 

States  Bureau  of  Lg^nr  ^t^iti^.tipn  r^nr'ing.^Ui^y.Qj-, ^ 

These  surveys  covered  a  large  number  of  cities,  and  the  results 
have  been  partially  tabulated  and  published  by  individual  communi- 
ties. For  only  one  group  of  18  large  cities,  however,  does  the  infor- 
mation cover  substantially  the  whole  war  period  from  1914  to  Decem- 
ber, 1919.  For  13  other  large  cities  partial  information  is  available 
for  the  period  December,  1917,  to  December,  1919,  and  for  a  third 
group  of  66  cities,  mostly  of  smaller  sizes,  detailed  information  is 
available  for  the  one-year  period,  December,  1917,  to  December, 
1918. 

The  summarized  data  for  the  two  former  groups  of  cities,  as  tabu- 
lated from  the  published  figures  of  the  Bureau,  are  as  follows : 


(a) 


9 


Survey  of  Eighteen  Shipbuilding  Centers,  December,  1914, 
TO  December,  1919. 


This  survey  was  undertaken  by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  especially  for  the  use  of  the  Shipbuilding  Labor  Adjust- 
ment Board  of  the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation,  and  for  that  rea- 
son was  limited  to  shipbuilding  centers.  It  covered  18  large  cities 
of  wide  geographical  distribution  and  containing  between  15  and  20 
million  people.  The  following  tables  show  the  percentage  increase 
in  cost  of  living  for  December  of  each  year  from  1914  to  1919,  as 
developed  in  this  survey. 


PERCENTAGE  OF  INCREASE  IN  COST  OF  LIVING  IN  18  SHIPBUILDING 
CENTERS,  FROM  DECEMBER,  1914,  TO  DECEMBER,  1915,  1916,  1917,  AND 
1918,  AND  TO  JUNE  1919  AND  DECEMBER,  1919. 

(Compiled  from  data  published  in  the  Monthly  Labor  Review  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau 

of  Labor  Statistics). 


Percentage  of  increase  from  December,  1914,  to — 

Cities. 

December 
1915 

December 
1916 

December 
1917 

December 
1918 

June 
1919 

December 
1919 

Portland,   Me 

♦  .42 

1.57 

1.97 

1.19 

♦1.37 

.61 

♦.21 

1.27 

♦.40 

*.29 

3.01 

3.51 

1.42 

3.53 

♦3.05 

*1.02 

♦1.93 

♦1.66 

.43 

13.83 

15.72 

14.91 

14.65 

18.51 

14.73 

14.59 

14.66 

13.82 

16.41 

19.51 

22.25 

19.10 

24.38 

6.14 

7.40 

7.68 

8.30 

14.81 

37.96 
38.13 
44.68 
43.81 
51.27 
45.15 
42.48 
41.63 
43.16 
44.89 
41.78 
49.85 
42.93 
51.13 
31.23 
31.08 
28.85 
28.63 
41.04 

72.23 
70.60 
77.28 
73.86 
84.68 
80.73 
74.98 
71.52 
71.37 
75.67 
72.16 
78.03 
71.36 
80.91 
64.24 
69.87 
58.03 
57.77 
72.52 

74.25 
72.78 
79.22 
76.21 
83.99 
87.05 
79.76 
77.48 
76.64 
80.22 
74.47 
84.36 
77.23 
84.23 
69.16 
74.01 
65.07 
65.58 
76.76 

91.59 

Boston,   Mass 

92  30 

New  York,  N.  Y 

Philadelphia,   Pa 

Baltimore,   Md 

Norfolk,   Va 

103.81 
96.49 
98.40 

106.98 

Savannah,   Ga 

98  68 

Jacksonville,   Fla 

Mobile,   Ala 

102.14 
94  54 

Houston,   Tex 

101.70 

Chicago,   lU 

100  61 

Detroit,  Mich 

107  87 

Cleveland,    Ohio 

Buffalo,  N.  Y 

Portland,   Ore 

Seattle,   Wash 

Los  Angeles,  Calif — 
San  Fran'co  &  Oakland 
Average  (unweighted) . 

95.05 
102.65 
83.73 
97.67 
85.33 
87.76 
97  07 

♦Decrease. 


10 


(&)     Survey  op  Thirteen  Large  Non-Shipbuilding  Cities, 
December,  1918,  to  December,  1919. 

The  cities  covered  by  tliis  survey  are  for  tlie  most  part  lai^  in- 
land cities.  Industry  in  many  of  them  was  greatly  stimulated  by 
the  war,  but  in  few,  if  any,  cases  did  they  experience  the  heavy  labor 
influx  and  housing  congestion  experienced  by  the  shipbuilding  cen- 
ters. The  following  table  gives  for  each  city  the  percentage  increases 
in  cost  of  living  from  December,  1917,  to  December,  1919,  and  to 
June,  1919. 


PERCENTAGE  OF  INCREASE  IN  COST  OF  LIVING  IN  13  LARGE  NON- 
SHIPBUILDING  CENTERS  FROM  DECEMBER,  1917,  TO  JUNE,  1919.  AND 
DECEMBER,  1919. 

(Compiled  from  data  pabfished  in  the  Monthly  Labor  Review  of  the  U.  S.  Borean 

of  Labor  Statistics). 


Per  cent  increase  from  December,  1917,  to— 

Cities 

1 
December,  1918         June,  1919 

December,  1919 

Atlanta,  Ga 

19.68 
16.98 
17.27 
20.72 
19.06 
!           19.62 
18.33 
15.80 
17.90 
19.82 
17.88 
16.69 
21.89 
18.59 

23.27 
19.78 
2L05 
25.33 
21.12 
20.57 
23.25 
18.75 
20.73 
21.82 
20.60 
17.85 
25.03 
22.24 

37.89 

Pirminghain,    Ala. 

34.32 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 

35  24 

Denver   Colo 

38.19 

Indianapolis    Ind 

36  53 

Kansas  City   Mo 

3816 

Memphis,    Tenn. 

35.23 

Minneapf>lis,  Minn , , , , ,  ^ , . . 

32.71 

New  Orleans,  La. 

33  86 

Pittsburgh,   Pa. 

36.17 

Richmond,  Va. 

32.02 

St    Louis,  Mo 

34.24 

Scranton   Pa 

37.10 

Average  (unweighted) 

35.51 

Monthly  Changes  in  Cost  of  Living. 

Since  January,  1920,  the  National  Industrial  Conference  Board 
has  undertaken  to  collect  and  publish  monthly  statistics  of  changes 
in  cost  of  living.  Prior  to  that  time  neither  the  National  Industrial 
Conference  Board  nor  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics 
attempted  to  report  changes  at  less  intervals  than  six  months. 
Therefore,  the  attempt  of  the  Massachusetts  Commission  on  the 
Necessaries  of  Life  to  compile  monthly  figures  for  a  period  of  years 
is  of  much  interest,  even  though  the  figures  relate  solely  to  the  one 


11 


state.  The  index  numbers  as  compiled  by  this  Commission  are  shown 
in  the  table  below,  by  months,  from  January,  1913,  to  April,  1920. 


INDEX  NUMBERS  OF  COST  OP  LIVING,  1913  TO  APRIL,  1920. 

(From  Report  of  the  Commission  on  the  Necessaries  of  Life,  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  February,  1920.) 


1913. 

1914. 

1915. 

1916. 

1917. 

1918. 

1919. 

1920. 

January     

94.9 

94.2 

99.2 

99.6 

99.4 

100.3 

100.8 

100.6 

100.2 

101.0 

101.0 

100.8 

101.8 
101.8 
101.6 
100.4 
100.1 
100.6 
102.1 
103.1 
103.3 
104.1 
103.2 
102.7 

102.9 
102.1 
101.0 
101.0 
101.5 
101.4 
101.7 
101.4 
102.2 
103.2 
103.9 
103.5 

105.7 
106.3 
106.7 
108.2 
108.7 
110.3 
109.9 
110.1 
112.1 
113.6 
116.2 
117.5 

119.6 
121.1 
122.7 
125.3 
127.5 
131.0 
129.3 
130.0 
133.1 
137.1 
138.2 
139.6 

144.6 
147.0 
145.7 
145.9 
148.7 
152.4 
155.1 
157.6 
161.3 
164.2 
165.0 
166.1 

167.5 
164.7 
164.7 
167.0 
169.1 
170.3 
171.5 
174.6 
173.1 
179.9 
184.5 
184.7 

192.0 

February  

190.8 

March  

193.4  , 

April  

196.3 

May  

Juno  r  T  , 

July  

August  

September  

October  

November  

December  

Method  op  Computing  Increased  Cost  op  Living. 

The  relation  between  increased  cost  of  living  and  increased  prices 
should  be,  but  is  not  always,  clearly  understood.  This  point  is  de- 
veloped in  an  article  in  the  Monthly  Labor  Review  for  October, 
1919.  There  it  is  pointed  out  that  the  determination  of_changes  in 
the  cost  of  living^to  be  atall  accurate,  must  be  based  upon  the  retail^ 
CQStg-Of  the  variousitems  ent*^T»inp^  intn  |be  ^^Hlnnry  family  hnfl^ot^ 

w^^^]^j^jl_^£2rirJlll3^^--t2^^  ^^  ^^^^  items  in  the  budget. 

This  includes  house^ent,  sickness_expenses,  amusements  and  other 
PiO££Lor  less  intangible  things,  as  well  as  actual  commodities,  such 
a^^foodand  clothing.  For  this  reason  prices  of  commodities,  as  the 
term  is  usually  used,  whether  wholesale  or  retail,  do  not  constitute 
a  complete  index  of  cost  of  living.  Thus  prices  of  food,  fuel  and 
clothing  may  go  up  100  per  cent,  but  if  rent  and  sundries  (which 
take  about  one-third  of  the  average  family's  income)  advance,  say, 
only  10  per  cent,  the  real  increase  in  cost  of  living  will  be  about  70 
per  cent. 

Retail  prices  of  food  offer  an  excellent  guide  to  changing  living 
costs,  but  cannot  be  taken  as  absolutely  conclusive,  as  food  is  only 
one  item,  although  usually  a  most  important  one,  in  the  family 
budget. 


12 

Wholesale  prices  offer  a  very  unsatisfactory  guide  to  living  costs. 
Experience  has  shown  that  during  a  period  of  rapidly  rising  prices, 
such  as  has  occurred  during  the  past  five  years,  wholesale  prices 
tend  to  increase  more  rapidly  than  retail  prices.  There  are  two  evi- 
dent reasons  for  this :  first,  the  retailer  often  buys  on  contract  for 
future  delivery,  and,  second,  the  retailer  is  often  unable  to  shift 
the  increased  wholesale  cost  immediately  to  the  consumer.  Thus, 
in  a  period  of  increasing  cost,  retail  prices  —  and  it  is  at  retail 
that  the  average  consumer  buys — tend  to  lag  behind  wholesale 
prices.  Ultimately  retail  prices  will  show  somewhat  the  same  total 
increase  as  wholesale  prices  will,  but  on  any  particular  date,  in  a 
period  of  generally  increasing  prices,  wholesale  prices  may  be  sev- 
eral steps  in  advance  of  retail  prices. 

Moreover,  the  existing  data  regarding  wholesale  price  movements 
are  not  entirely  satisfactory.  There  are  four  well-known  index 
numbers  of  such  prices — Bradstreet's,  Dun^s,  the  Annalist's  and  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics'.  These  are  based  on  dif- 
ferent groupings  of  commodities,  and  are  by  no  means  identical  in 
their  results. 

Character  of  the  Principal  Cost  of  Living  Investigations. 

Comprehensive  studies  of  the  character  above  mentioned  and  for 
the  country  as  a  whole  have  been  made  only  by  two  organizations : 
(1)  The  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  and  (2)  The 
National  Industrial  Conference  Board.  In  addition,  a  very  interest- 
ing study  has  been  made  for  the  State  of  Massachusetts  by  (3)  The 
Massachusetts  Commission  on  the  Necessaries  of  Life. 

(1)  Cost  of  Living  Survey  of  Eighteen  Shipbuilding  Centers 
from  December,  1914,  to  December,  1919,  made  by  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  and  supplemented  by  a  country-wide 
cost-of-living  survey,  covering  (a)  thirteen  large  non-shipbuilding 
centers  form  December,  1917,  to  December,  1919,  and  (b)  sixty-six 
additional  cities,  most  of  smaller  size,  from  December,  1917,  to 
December,  1918. 

In  these  surveys  detailed  expenditures  over  a  year's  time  were 
obtained  from  several  hundred  families  in  each  community.  From 
these  were  determined  the  relative  importance  of  each  article  in 
the  list  of  expenditures.  The  local  retail  prices  were  then  obtained 
and  weighted  according  to  their  importance  in  the  budget. 

The  most  recent  data  of  the  Bureau  regarding  the  "weights,"  or 
percentage  importance,  of  the  various  groups  of  items  in  the  family 


13 


budget  were  developed  in  the  budget  study  made  in  1918-1919.  This 
study  covered  more  than  12,000  families.  Their  combined  expe- 
rience gives  the  following  per  cent  distribution  of  expenditures  by 
principal  groups  of  items : 

PER  CENT  DISTRIBUTION  BY  ITEMS. 
(From  Labor  Review,  August,  1919.) 


Items. 


White 

Colored 

Families. 

Families. 

38.2 

42.7 

16.6 

15.9 

13.4 

12.4 

5.3 

5.3 

5.1 

4.3 

21.3 

19.4 

Food 

Clothing 

Rent  

Fuel  and  light 

Furniture  and  furnishings 
Miscellaneous 


(2)  Cost  of  Living  Surveys  of  the  National  Industrial  Conference 
Board.  This  Board  is  an  association  of  manufacturers'  associa- 
tions, which  has  established  a  research  department  for  industrial 
investigations.  In  these  surveys  the  prices  obtained  were  similarly 
weighted,  the  results  of  previous  investigations  being  used  for  this 
purpose. 

The  weights  used  are  as  follows : 

PER  CENT  DISTRIBUTION  OF  ITEMS. 


Food 

Shelter 

Clothing 

Fuel,  heat  and  light 
Sundries 


43.1 
17.7 
13.2 
5.6 
20.4 


In  obftaining  prices  the  Board  used  the  retail  food  prices  pub- 
lished by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  For  other 
items  it  obtained  prices  direct  from  the  localities,  mostly  by  corre- 
spondence. Its  principal  investigations  are  now  made  at  intervals 
of  four  months,  with  monthly  studies  of  more  limited  scope  since 
January,  1920. 

The  making  of  cost-of-living  surveys  such  as  these  just  listed  is 
very  laborious.  It  means  collecting  prices  of  food,  clothing,  house 
furnishings,  house  rents,  etc.,  from  a  large  number  of  persons  in  a 


14 

large  number  of  localities.  As  a  result,  such  price  collecting  has 
only  been  done  at  considerable  intervals  and  for  a  more  or  less 
limited  number  of  communities.  Thus  there  is  no  complete  series 
of  figures  showing  changes  in  cost  of  living  for  all  communities  and 
at  short  intervals.  Therefore,  in  attempting  to  arrive  at  a  complete 
series  of  figures  showing  changes  in  cost  of  living  during  the  period 
July,  1914,  to  date,  the  best  that  can  be  done  is  to  combine  and 
analyze  the  existing  data  and  to  seek  to  reconcile  conflicting  find- 
ings and  fill  in  lacking  data  as  well  as  possible. 

The  paramount  difficulty  is  that  during  the  past  few  years  there 
has  been  considerable  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  increasing  cost  of 
living  in  different  cities  and  different  sections.  From  1914  to  date 
every  community  of  which  there  is  record  shows  a  very  substantial 
increase,  but  the  percentages  are  by  no  means  the  same.  This  fact 
explains  in  some  part  the  different  results  obtained  by  different 
investigations. 


15 


CHAPTER    II. 

Retail  Prices  of  Food. 

The  only  authoritative  data  on  retail  food  prices  in  the  United 
States  are  those  collected  by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  and  published  currently  in  the  Monthly  Labor  Review  of 
that  Bureau.  These  price  reports  for  a  considerable  period  of  time 
have  been  for  at  least  22  principal  food  articles,  obtained  from  some 
2,000  dealeiFs  in  forty-five  cities  of  the  United  States,  so  distributed 
geographically  as  to  be  representative  of  the  whole  country.  Re- 
cently the  number  of  commodities  and  the  number  of  cities  covered 
by  the  study  has  been  considerably  extended. 

Index  Numbers  op  Retail  Food  Prices  of  All  Commodities^  by 
MoNTHS_,  January_,  1913,  TO  April,  1920. 

The  following  table  gives  by  months  from  January,  1913,  to  April, 
1920,  the  index  numbers  of  retail  food  prices  of  all  the  commodities 
for  all  cities  for  which  data  were  obtained  by  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  for  this  period.  The  average  of  the  prices 
for  the  year  1913  is  taken  as  a  base  of  100. 

RELATIVE  RETAIL  PRICES  OP  FOOD  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  JANUARY, 
1913,  TO  APRIL,  1920,  INCLUSIVE. 

(Compiled  from  Monthly  Labor  Reviews  of  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.) 


Month. 


J      J      ,1 
1913.  I  1914.  I  1915.  I  1916.  |  1917. 


1 

1917. 

1918. 

1 
1919.  ! 

1      1 

146 

16? 

186 

128 

160 

185 

133 

161 

172 

133 

154 

175 

145 

154 

182  1 

1  151 

158 

185 

152 

162 

184 

146 

167 

190 

149 

171 

192 

153 

178 

188 

157 

181 

189 

155 

183 

192 

157 

187 

197 

1920. 


Average  for  year 

January  

February  

March 

April  

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 


100 

98 

97 

97 

98 

97 

98 

100 

101 

102 

104 

105 

104 


102 
104 


97 
98 
99 


101 
103 


101  I  101 
99  I   98 


99 
100 
100 


102  I  100 

107  I  100 

107  I  101 

105  I  103 

105  I  104 

105  I  105 


I  114 

I  107 

I  106 

I  107 

1  109 

I  109 

I  112 

I  111 

I  113 
118 
121 

I  126 

I  126 
I 


201 
200 
200 
211 


16 


Index  Numbers  of  Retail  Price  Changes  for  Certain 
Commodities  1913  to  1920. 

The  table  below  analyses  the  data  of  the  preceding  table  by  com- 
modities. It  shows  for  twenty-two  important  commodities  the  index 
numbers  of  retail  prices  on  February  15  for  selected  years  from  1913 
to  1920. 


RELATIVE    RETAIL    PRICES    OF    FOOD    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    ON 
FEBRUARY  15,  1913,  1914,  1917,  AND  1920. 

(Compiled  from  table  in  Monthly  Labor  Review  of  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.) 

Base,  1913  =  100. 


Article 

1913 

1914 

1917 

1920 

Sirloin  steak 

94 

93 

95 

93 

93 

90 

95 

94 

98 

97 

91 

108 

100 

100 

100 

100 

98 

99 

90 

100 

100 

100 

97 

99 

102 

101 

103 

102 

100 

98 

99 

99 

104 

106 

93 

104 

102 

110 

99 

103 

100 

108 

94 

100 

99 

101 

113 
117 
114 
116 
116 
125 
114 
118 
138 
126 
147 
122 
142 
112 
142 
171 
136 
104 
290 
148 
100 
100 
133 

160 

Round  stf^ak 

167 

Rib  roast 

159 

Chuck  roast 

157 

Plate  beef 

152 

Pork  chops 

179 

Bacon  ■. 

185 

Ham  

188 

Lard  1 

204 

Hens  

210 

Eges  

199 

Butter  

190 

Cheese  

196 

Milk  

189 

Bread  

198 

Flour  

245 

Com  meal 

217 

Rice  

210 

Potatoes  

353 

Sugar  

342 

T^i  

131 

Coffee  

164 

22  weighted  articles 

200 

17 


Actual  Retail  Prices  op  Food  on  Fkbeuaey  15  of  Each  Year, 

1913  TO  1920. 

The  actual  retail  prices  of  a  long  list  of  food  articles  for  Feb.  15, 
1913,  1914,  1917  and  1920,  are  given  in  the  next  table.  Prices  for 
certain  of  the  articles  are  not  available  for  the  whole  period,  but  the 
totals  are  suflScient  to  be  representative. 

AVERAGE  RETAIL  PRICE  ON  FEBRUARY  15,  1913,  1914,  1917  AND  1920, 
OF  SPECIFIED  ARTICLES  OF  FOOD. 

(From  March,  1920,  Monthly  Labor  Review,  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.) 


Article. 


Average  Retail  Price 
February  15 — 


1913. 
Cents. 


1914. 

1917. 

Cents. 

Cents. 

25.4 

28.7 

22.8 

26.0 

19.9 

22.5 

16.3 

18.6 

12.4 

14.1 

20.9 

26.1 

26.4 

30.7 

26.5 

31.8 

18.9 

25.9 

22.2 

26.7 

21.6 

91 

10.0 

35.9 

46.9 

23.6 

31.5 

15.8 

21.9 

1920. 
Cents. 


Sirloin  steak. 
Round  steak, 
Rib  roast... 
Chuck  roast. 
Plate   beef.. 


Pork  chops 

Bacon    

Ham    

Lamb    

Hens    


Salmon,   canned 

Milk,    fresh 

MiDt,  evaporated,  unsweetened. 

Butter    

Oleomargarine    


Nut -margarine    

Cheese    

Lard    

Crisco 

Eggs,  strictly  fresh. 


Eggs,    storage. 

Bread    

Flour    

Corn   meal 

Rolled   oats... 


Pound 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 

do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 

do. 

Quart 

15-16-oz..can 

Pound 

do. 

do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 
Dozen 

do. 
^Pound 
do. 
do. 
do. 


24.0 
20.6 
18.9 
14.9 
11.1 

18.8 
25.5 
25.3 
18.5 
20.8 


8.9 
41.4 


22.2 
15.4 

3*1.5 

23.5 
5.7 
3.3 
3.0 


36.4 

50.6 

32.6 

46.3 

6.2 

8.0 

3.2 

5.6 

3.1 

4.1 

40.6 
37.2 
31.5 
25.1 
18.4 

37.6 
50.0 
50.5 
39.1 
44.7 

37.6 
16.8 
16.2 
72.6 
43.4 

36.1 
43.3 
32.3 
37.8 
68.6 

59.4 

11.1 

8.1 

6.5 

10.0 


^Baked  weight. 


18 


AVERAGE  RETAIL  PRICE  ON  FEBRUARY  15,  1913,  1914,  1917  AND  1920, 
OF  SPECIFIED  ARTICLES  OF  FOOD— Continued. 


Article 

Unit. 

Average  Retail  Price 
February  15— 

1913. 
Cents. 

1914. 
Cents. 

1917. 
Cents. 

1920. 
Cents. 

Corn  flakes 

8-oz.  pkge. 

28-oz.  pkge. 

Pound 

do. 

do. 

do. 
do. 
do. 
No.  2  can 
do. 

do. 
do. 
Pound 
do. 
do. 

do. 

do. 

Dozen 

do. 

*  8.6 
1.6 

*  5.5 
54.3 
29.8 

'  8.7 
1.9 

*  5.1 
54.5 
29.6 

.... 

*  9.1 

14.9 

5.1 
12.2 

'  8.1 
54.6 
29.9 

14.1 
14.1 

141 

Cream  of  Wheat 

29  3 

Macaroni    

20  2 

Rice    

18.3 

Beans,   Navy 

12  2 

Potatoes    

60 

Onions    

94 

Cabbage    

93 

Beans,  baked 

16  9 

Corn,   canned 

18  7 

Peas,   canned 

191 

Tomatoes,   canned 

15  3 

Sugar,   granulated 

18  8 

Tea    

71  0 

Coffee    

49  0 

Prunes 

Raisins    

29.0 
25  6 

Bananas    

41  0 

Oranges    

53  2 

Increase  in  22  weighted  articles— each 
specified  year  over  1913 — per  cent 

3 

37 

105 

19 


CHAPTER    III. 
Retail  Prices  op  Coal. 

The  Monthly  Labor  Review  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  for  March,  1920,  contains  detailed  data  regarding  the 
retail  prices  of  coal  on  January  15  and  July  15  of  each  year  1913 
to  1919  and  on  January  15,  1920.  The  prices  shown  for  bituminous 
coal  are  averages  made  on  the  several  kinds,  the  coal  dealers  in 
each  city  being  asked  to  quote  prices  on  the  kind  usually  sold  for 
household  use.  The  prices  quoted  are  for  coal  delivered  to  con- 
sumers, but  do  not  cover  charges  for  storing  in  cellar  or  coal  bin 
where  extra  handling  is  necessary.  Coal  prices  were  obtained  only 
for  those  cities  in  which  the  Bureau  obtains  food  prices. 

The  following  table  summarizes  the  information  referred  to. 
These  abbreviated  data  are  sufficient  to  show  the  trend  of  prices: 

AVERAGE  AND  RELATIVE  PRICES  OP  COAL  IN  TON  LOTS  FOR  THE 
UNITED  STATES  ON  JANUARY  15  AND  JULY  15  OF  EACH  YEAR,  1913 
TO  1919,  INCLUSIVE,  AND  ON  JANUARY  15,  1920. 


I 
Pennsylvania  anthracite,  white  ash.    |    Bituminous. 

( 

Year  and  month. 

Stove. 

Chestnut. 

Average 
price. 

Average 
price. 

Relative 
price. 

Average 
price. 

Relative 
price. 

Relative 
price. 

1913: 

Aver,  for  year. 

January  

July 

1914: 

January  

July 

1915: 

January  

July 

1916: 

January  

July 

1917: 

January  

July 

1918: 

January  

July 

1919: 

January  

July 

1920: 

January  

$7.73 
7.99 
7.46 

7.80 
7.60 

7.83 
7.54 

7.93 
8.12 

9.29 
(1) 

9.88 
9.96 

11.51 
12.16 

12.59 

100 

103 

97 

101 
98 

101 
98 

103 
105 

120 
(1) 

128 
129 

149 
157 

163 

$7.91 
8.15 
7.68 

8.00 

7.78 

7.99 
7.73 

8.13 
8.28 

9.40 
(1) 

10.03 
10.07 

11.61 
12.19 

12.77 

100 

103 

97 

101 
98 

101 

98 

103 
105 

119 
(1) 

127 
127 

147 
154 

161 

$5.43 
5.48 
5.39 

5.97 
5.46 

5.71 
5.44 

5.69 
5.52 

6.96 
(1) 

7.68 
7.92 

7.90 
8.10 

8.81 

100 

101 

99 

110 
101 

105 
100 

105 
102 

128 
(1) 

141 
146 

145 
149 

162 

(1)  Prices  not  secured  by  bureau  in  July,  1917. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Retail  Prices  of  Clothing  and  Dry  Goods. 

Lack  of  standardization  makes  it  very  difficult  to  obtain  satisfac- 
tory price  changes  for  specific  articles  of  clothing  and  dry  goods. 
The  tables  below  reproduce  in  condensed  form  two  of  the  most 
interesting  of  recently  published  studies  of  such  prices.  The  first, 
from  the  report  of  the  Massachusetts  Commission  on  the  Necessaries 
of  Life,  gives  prices  in  1914  and  in  1920  for  a  few  articles  of  everyday 
wear.  The  second  table,  from  a  report  of  the  National  Industrial 
Conference  Board,  gives  prices  for  1914  and  November,  1919,  for  a 
considerable  number  of  articles  of  clothing  and  dry  goods. 

RETAIL  PRICES  OF  CERTAIN  ARTICLES  OF  CLOTHING  1914,  1917,  1919 
AND  FEBRUARY,  1920. 

(From  Report  of  the  Commission  on  the  Necessaries  of  Life,  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  February,  1920.) 


I        I 

Company 
number.      1914. 


1917. 


1919. 


Feb., 
1920. 


Men's  furnishings: 

Hats 

Gloves  

Collars 

Hosiery 

Shirts 

Blue  serge  suiting  (per  yard) 

Blue  serge  suits 

Men's   underwear 

Shoes  

Women's   corsets 


f3 
{I 
{I 
{I 
{I 


$5.00 
2.00 

1.75 
1.65 

.15 
.10 

.50 
.25 

1.50 
1.15 

'1.37% 

15.00 
17.50 
20.00 

1.00 
2.25 
1.00 

3.75 

1.00 
5.00 


$6.00 
4.00 

3.00 
2.85 

.15 
.15 

.50 
.35 

2.00 
1.75 

'2.00 

'20.00 
'23.00 
"25.00 

1.50 
3.50 
1.75 

5.50 

1.00 
6.50 


$7.00 
4.50 

4.50 
4.35 

.25 
.20 

.75 
.45 

3.00 
2.00 


3.00 
4.50 
2.50 


'$4.90 

50.00 
55.00 
70.00 


8.50 

2.50 
8.50 


'January.    ''January,  1920.    'June. 


21 


AVERAGE  RETAIL  PRICES  OF  SELECTED  YARD  GOODS  AND  WEARING 

APPAREL  IN  JULY,  1914,  AND  IN  NOVEMBER,  1919,  AND 

PERCENTAGES  OF  INCREASE. 


(National  Industrial  Conference  Board.) 


Article. 


July  1, 
1914, 
price. 


Nov.  1, 

1919, 
price. 


Percentage 

of  increase 

between 

July,  1914, 

and 
Nov.,  1919. 


Woolen  Yard  Goods : 

Serge  

Poplin 

Broadcloth 

Cotton  Yard  Goods: 

Percale  .  , 

Gingham 

Longcloth 

Fruit  of  the  Loom . . . 
Voile 

Hosiery : 

Men's 

Women's 

Knit  Underwear: 

Men's  union  suits 

Women's   vests 

Muslin  Underwear: 

Women's   combinations 

Suits: 

Men'j^ 

Women's 

Overcoats : 

Men's 

Women's 

Shirts  and  Blouses: 

Men's  work  shirts 

Men's  work  shirts 

Men's  negligee  shirts. 
Women's   btouses 

Overalls 

3s: 

Men's 

Women's , 

Gloves: 

Men's   dogskin 

Women's  cape  kid. ... , 

Hats: 

Men's    felt 

Women's   velvet 


$1.00 
1.50 
2.00 


.07^ 
.10 

.15 
.25 


.15 
.25 


.50 
.10 


1.00 


15.00 
15.00 


10.00 
10.00 


.50 
1.00 
1.00 
1.00 

.75 


3.50 
3.00 


1.25 
1.00 


2.00 
1.50 


$2.62 
3.24 
4.82 


.32 
.34 
.34 
.39 
.55 


.32 
.57 


1.28 
.26 


2.06 


34.21 
31.51 


26.78 
23.90 


1.45 
2.15 
2.24 
2.02 

2.26 


8.42 
8.30 


2.69 
2.60 


4.34 
3.49 


161.9 
116.0 
141.0 


326.7 
238.0 
174.4 
160.7 
121.2 


108.0 
126.0 


156.8 
163.0 


106.0 


128.1 
110.7 


167.8 
139.0 


189.6 
115.4 
124.3 
101.6 

200.7 


140.4 
176.3 


115.2 
159.8 


117.0 
132.7 


22 

CHAPTER    V. 

Wholbsale  Prices. 

Wholesale  price  index  numbers  have  been  compiled  and  published 
for  a  number  of  years  by  various  organizations.  The  best  known 
of  these  index  numbers  are  those  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics,  The  Annalist,  Bradstreet  and  Dun.  These  are  all 
built  upon  the  same  general  principle — namely,  the  averaging  of 
the  wholesale  prices  of  various  commodities  (in  some  cases  weighted 
prices)  and  expressing  all  changes  in  terms  of  some  one  year  taken 
as  a  base. 

They  differ  widely,  however,  as  regards  the  selection  of  commodi- 
ties and  their  system  of  weighting.  The  series  compiled  by  the 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  includes  at  the  present  time  articles  or 
grades  of  articles  divided  into  farm  products,  foods,  cloths  and  cloth- 
ing, fuel  and  lighting,  metals  and  metal  products,  lumber  and  build- 
ing materials,  chemicals  and  drugs,  housefurnishings  and  miscellane- 
ous commodities.  The  Annalist  series  comprises  25  food  articles. 
Bradstreet's  index  includes  96  commodities  classed  as  breadstuffs, 
livestock,  provisions  and  groceries,  fresh  and  dried  fruits,  hides  and 
leather,  raw  and  manufactured  textiles,  metals,  coal  and  coke, 
mineral  and  vegetable  oils,  naval  stores,  building  materials,  chem- 
icals and  drugs,  and  miscellaneous.  Dun's  index  contains  200  com- 
modities, divided  into  breadstuffs,  meats,  dairy  and  garden  products, 
other  foods,  clothing,  metals  and  miscellaneous. 

In  the  following  table  the  four  series  of  wholesale  price  index 
numbers  noted  are  brought  into  comparison  for  selected  dates  from 
1913  to  1920.  The  base  in  each  case  has  been  shifted  to  the  same 
year,  1913,  by  dividing  the  index  for  1913  in  the  original  base  into 
the  original  index  for  each  subsequent  year  or  month. 

The  differences  between  the  several  index  numbers  are,  of  course, 
due  to  the  different  selection  of  commodities,  as  noted  above. 


23 


INDEX  NUMBERS  OF  WHOLi29!«f>ffi.WafCft5S.i'', 
(Base  1913  =  100.) 


••  •  •  » • 


Bureau  of 

Labor 

Annalist. 

Brad- 

Dun. 

Statistics. 

street. 

100 

100 

100 

100 

100 

104 

97 

101 

101 

106 

107 

105 

124 

126 

128 

123 

176 

187 

170 

169 

196 

205 

203  • 

190 

100 

102 

97 

103 

100 

104 

94 

99 

99 

108 

99 

103 

101 

105 

107 

103 

111 

110 

119 

114 

120 

121 

125 

120 

151 

151 

149 

140 

187 

189 

175 

175 

185 

200 

195 

184 

198 

203 

208 

192 

203 

211 

201 

190 

197 

201 

192 

182 

201 

209 

187 

180 

203 

222 

188 

182 

207 

226 

187 

184 

207 

216 

196 

189 

219 

219 

205 

193 

226 

220 

217 

200 

221 

202 

211 

197 

223 

200 

212 

195 

230 

201 

216 

191 

238 

205 

219 

202 

248 

210 

221 

205 

249 

209 

227 

210 

253 

213 

226 

209 

265 

225 

225 

213 

229^ 

225 

218 

1913 
1914 
1915 
1916 
1917 
1918 


1914: 

January  . 

July 

1915: 

January  .  . 

July  .  .  .  . 
1916: 

January  .  , 

July  .... 
1917: 

January  .  . 

July 

1918: 

January  .  . 

July  .  .  .  . 
1919: 

January  .  . 

February  . 

March  .  .  .. 

April 

May 

June  .... 

July  .... 

August  .  . 

September 

October  . 

November  . 

December  , 
1920: 

January  .  . 

February  . 

March  .  .  . 

April  

May  


^Week  ending  May  15. 

Wholesale  Price  Index  Numbers  for  Selected  Groups  of 

Commodities. 

The  wholesale  price  index  numbers  of  the  United  States  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics,  as  now  constituted,  include  quotations  for  326 
commodities,  the  largest  number  covered  by  any  of  the  index  number 


24 


series.  The  index  numbers  as  published  by  the  Bureau  are  divided 
into  nine  main  groups — farm  products,  food,  clothes  and  clothing, 
fuel  and  lighting,  metals  and  metal  products,  lumber  and  building 
materials,  drugs  and  chemicals,  housefurnishings  and  miscellane- 
ous. These  index  numbers  by  commodity  groups  offer  an  excellent 
indication  of  the  trend  of  wholesale  prices  of  the  more  important 
commodities  during  recent  years.  The  following  table  gives  these 
data  in  detail  for  selected  dates  from  1913  to  April,  1920 : 


INDEX    NUMBERS    OF    WHOLESALE    PRICES    BY    COMMODITY    GROUPS, 
1913   TO  APRIL,  1920. 

(Base  1913   =   100.) 


Year 

and 

Month 

Farm 
prod- 
ucts 

Food, 
etc. 

Clothes 

and 
clothing 

Fuel 

and 

lighting 

Metals 
and 
metal 
prod- 
ucts 

Lumber 
and 

building 
mate- 
rials 

Drugs 
and 

chem- 
icals 

House 
fur- 
nish- 
ings 

Miscel- 
laneous 

All 
com- 
modi- 
ties 

1913 

100 
103 
105 
122 
189 
220 
234 

97 
101 

101 
104 

102 
108 

108 
118 

148 
199 

207 
224 

222 
218 
228 
235 
240 
231 
246 
243 
226 
230 
240 
244 

246 
237 
239 
246 

100 
103 
105 
127 
178 
191 
210 

99 
102 

102 
104 

106 
105 

114 
122 

151 
182 

188 
186 

209 
197 
205 
212 
216 
206 
218 
227 
211 
211 
219 
234 

253 
244 
246 
270 

100 
98 
100 
128 
181 
238 
261 

100 
100 

98 
99 

96 
99 

110 
126 

161 
187 

211 
249 

234 
223 
216 
217 
227 
258 
281 
304 
306 
313 
325 
335 

350 
356 
355 
353 

100 
96 
93 
119 
175 
163 
173 

103 
99 

99 
95 

93 
90 

105 
108 

176 
192 

157 
166 

170 
169 
168 
167 
167 
170 
171 
175 
181 
181 
179 
181 

184 
187 
192 
213 

100 
87 
97 
148 
208 
181 
161 

107 
98 

92 

85 

83 
102 

126 
145 

183 
257 

174 
184 

172 
168 
162 
152 
152 
154 
158 
165 
160 
161 
164 
169 

177 
189 
192 
195 

100 
97 
94 
101 
124 
151 
192 

100 
101 

98 
97 

94 
93 

99 
99 

106 
132 

136 
154 

161 
163 
165 
162 
164 
175 
186 
208 
227 
231 
236 
253 

268 
300 
325 
341 

100 
101 
114 
159 
198 
221 
179 

101 
99 

100 
99 

103 
108 

150 
156 

159 
198 

232 
216 

191 
185 
183 
178 
179 
174 
171 
172 
173 
174 
176 
179 

189 
197 
205 
212 

100 
99 
99 
115 
144 
196 
236 

100 
100 

99 
99 

99 
99 

105 
121 

132 
152 

161 
199 

218 
218 
218 
217 
217 
233 
245 
259 
262 
264 
299 
303 

324 
329 
329 
331 

100 
99 
99 
120 
155 
193 
217 

100 
101 

99 
97 

100 
98 

107 
120 

138 
153 

178 
190 

212 
208 
217 
216 
213 
212 
221 
225 
217 
220 
220 
220 

227 
227 
230 
238 

100 

1914 

100 

1915 

101 

1916 

124 

1917 

176 

1918 

196 

1919 

212 

1913- 
Jan 

100 

July 

100 

1914- 
Jan 

100 

July 

100 

1915- 
Jan 

99 

July 

101 

1916- 

Jan 

July 

111 
120 

1917- 
Jan 

151 

July  

187 

1918- 
Jan 

185 

July 

1919- 
Jan   

198 
203 

Feb 

197 

Mar 

201 

Apr  

203 

May 

207 

June   

207 

July 

219 

Aug 

226 

Sept  

220 

Oct 

223 

Nov 

230 

Dec 

238 

1920- 
jan    

248 

Feb 

249 

Mar 

253 

Apr 

265 

DAY    AND    TO    $I.OO    ON    Tm.    o  '"''^  ''°^'''^" 
OVERDUE.  ^'^    ^"^    SEVENTH     DAY 


416814 


^# 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA  LIBRARY 


